Five days passed quickly.
The number of participants who passed the exam seemed to have exceeded Konoha's expectations.
So, in the tower, a temporary individual preliminary round was held.
This time, the preliminaries had nothing to do with 'teams'. Genin were allowed to forfeit, and it wouldn't affect the continuation of their teammates.
Sasuke leaned against the second-floor railing, arms crossed.
"I forfeit."
The first one who caught his faint interest was that silver-haired Shinobi named Yakushi Kabuto.
When his name appeared on the match board, he raised his hand without a trace of hesitation.
A glint of understanding flashed in Sasuke's eyes.
As expected.
This guy was most likely Orochimaru's planted agent within Konoha.
The following matches were rather dull.
Sakura didn't make it through the preliminaries, ending in a 'mutual defeat' with Ino.
The match between Hyuga Hinata and Hyuga Neji, however, made him glance over for a moment.
Clan against clan, Main House against Branch House, the Caged Bird Cursed Seal binding their fate…
It reminded him of the Uchiha Clan, equally shackled by bloodline and destiny.
But it was only a fleeting association… Hinata's feeble resistance and Neji's arrogance drowning in fatalism didn't stir even the slightest interest in him.
Naruto's victory, however, was something he had foreseen.
No one was more aware than Sasuke of the progress that idiot had made in the past four years.
What truly shifted Sasuke's gaze was that particular match.
"Konoha's Lotus will bloom again!"
Lee's figure turned into a streak of green lightning, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow. With sheer Taijutsu, he forced Sunagakure's Jinchuriki into a corner.
That resolve, to burn everything away for a single radiant moment, did, for an instant, even make Sasuke feel dazzled.
But when the sand claw closed in, mercilessly crushing Lee's left arm and leg, the flicker in Sasuke's eyes dissolved into mockery.
A beautiful spark, yet fragile beyond measure.
He wasn't mocking Lee's failure, but that naïve belief of staking everything on 'hard work'.
In this world, before absolute talent, hard work could sometimes be laughable.
Inside the tower, the final lottery was carried out under tense silence.
On the board, the names, Uzumaki Naruto, and Gaara slowly appeared.
Naruto looked at the name, then glanced at the gloomy red-haired boy standing not far away. Instead of showing the slightest fear, he grinned.
"Hey, that guy with the gourd on his back." He whispered, nudging Shikamaru beside him, "Is he strong?"
Nara Shikamaru yawned, giving him a look reserved for idiots, and replied lazily, "Strong? He's a monster. You'd better be careful… what a drag."
"Monster, huh…" Naruto rolled the word on his tongue.
From the railing on the second floor, Sasuke took it all in.
Just as he predicted… for dealing with Gaara, the only safe bet Konoha had was Naruto, another Jinchuriki.
The next twenty-some days were reserved for the victors to prepare for the finals.
…
Naka Shrine.
Sasuke sat cross-legged on the cold stone steps, Takemikazuchi resting across his knees. With his eyes shut, he sank his awareness into the deepest recess of his soul.
He was attempting to touch that gate called Bankai.
The plan to assassinate Danzo had to be flawless.
For that, he needed even greater power.
He tried to force Takemikazuchi into manifestation, to obtain its recognition.
But each attempt ended in failure.
"Still not enough?"
Sasuke opened his eyes from deep meditation, fine beads of sweat forming on his brow.
"Bankai…" He murmured, frustration flickering in his gaze.
For ordinary Shinigami, it took decades, even centuries, of training. To attempt it in just a few years was, perhaps, far too delusional.
…
On the other side of Konoha, Naruto's training was of a completely different sort.
"Hey, Pervy Sage!"
Under the waterfall outside a hot springs inn, Naruto stood shirtless, holding a balloon full of water in his hands, irritation written all over his face.
"All you want me to do is make this balloon pop? This counts as training?"
Jiraiya, meanwhile, lounged lazily on a nearby rock, pen and notebook in hand, claiming to be 'searching for inspiration for his next masterpiece', though his eyes constantly drifted in the direction of the hot springs.
"Idiot! This is the foundation of the foundation!" he scolded without even turning his head, "Only when you can burst it with one hand does it count as entry level!"
Without the Kyubi's Chakra deliberately interfering anymore, Naruto's Chakra Control had vastly improved.
But the precise manipulation needed for the Rasengan still gave him headaches.
"Damn it! No way I'm giving up!"
Gritting his teeth, Naruto poured Chakra into the balloon over and over again.
But after hours of failure, his already thin patience wore out completely.
"If one doesn't work, then I'll do a hundred!"
With that blunt thought, he formed a hand seal, shouting, "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
In an instant, over a hundred Naruto filled the clearing under the waterfall, each holding a balloon. The scene descended into chaotic frenzy.
Jiraiya watched the chaotic scene, just about to scold the reckless brat, when his eyes suddenly sharpened, and he fell silent.
Finally, just as Naruto's Chakra was on the verge of collapse, he dispelled all of his shadow clones.
And in that instant…
"Waaaahhhh!!!"
Naruto clutched his head and crouched down, letting out a piercing scream.
Hundreds of failed attempts, and all the fatigue accumulated by his clones, came flooding into his mind at once.
It was known in theory that the experience of shadow clones returned to the user when dispelled, but no one had ever dared use it for training, as the mental backlash alone was enough to shatter a shinobi's mind.
Yet Naruto endured it.
After a long while, he finally recovered from the splitting headache.
"So that's it! That's the feeling!"
Shouting with excitement, he thrust out his right hand, chakra pouring into his palm.
The water balloon burst instantly.
From that point onward, Naruto's training skyrocketed.
In just a single week, he had already mastered the subsequent steps.
By the days leading up to the finals, a swirling sphere of pure blue Chakra formed steadily in his hand.
"Good. Since you've mastered the Rasengan, next comes the final stage of training."
Jiraiya brought Naruto to the edge of a towering cliff, his expression grave, "Summoning Technique. This is the power you must master next."
After explaining the hand seals and the summoning contract, he pointed at the abyss below with a mischievous grin.
"To learn it in such a short time, there's only one method."
Before Naruto could react, Jiraiya planted a firm kick, sending him flying off the cliff.
"That is… to unleash all the potential inside you in the face of death!"
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Naruto's desperate cry echoed through the valley.
As he plummeted, he frantically formed seals, trying to summon a creature… but every time, only fist-sized tadpoles appeared.
"Damn it, why isn't it working!"
The wind roared in his ears, death drawing closer with every heartbeat.
Naruto's mind went blank, fear transmuted into raw desire for survival.
"I can't die here… not before I become Hokage! Not before… Sasuke acknowledges me!!!
Fueled by this desperate will to live, he bit into his thumb again, blood dripping as he slammed his hand down hard against the air.
"Summoning Technique!!!"
A colossal cloud of smoke exploded midair in the valley.
When it cleared, a massive toad the size of a mountain clung to the cliffside with all four limbs, a gigantic short blade strapped to its waist.
And atop its enormous head, Naruto knelt, gasping for breath, his face split with a triumphant grin of survival.
---
Check out My Patreon For 40+ Advanced Chapters:
Pat reon.com/IamPoorGuyToo